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INDIA INTELLIGENCE REPORT
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Global Steel Holdings (GSHL), controlled by
Pramod and Vinod’s Ispat Group, has acquired a one-million-tonne steel
unit in Turkey for USD 78.4m. This deal comes close on the heels of the
group’s purchase of a steel plant in Bulgaria last month. The Turkey unit
takes the combined capacity of Global Steel Holdings and Ispat to 15
million tonnes. It now straddles the Philippines, Nigeria, Bulgaria,
Bosnia, Libya and India. ONGC Videsh Limited has made a
preliminary bid of USD 2.5 billion to buy Canadian exploration company
First Calgary Petroleum (FCP)..
Essar Oil has signed
a production sharing contract with the government of Myanmar for oil exploration
in two blocks — one onshore and the other offshore in the western region of
Rakhine. Essar is the first foreign company to sign an onshore oil and gas
production agreement with Myanmar since the junta announced in early March that
all onshore blocks would in future be reserved for the state energy enterprise.
More than USD 9.3
billion (is expected to be raised from the equity market in calendar 2005,
building on the USD 6.9 billion raised through public issues in 2004, according
to industry estimates. Top merchant bankers are being approached by at least
20-25 new companies every month but only a percentage of them get the nod. Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's (S&P) increased
its stake in the Indian corporate rating company CRISIL by bringing in USD 56
million.
Economy
A Bill in the woods
The proposed legislation to grant land rights to tribals has been imperilled even before the draft Bill goes for Cabinet clearance. The Bill seeks to provide tribals with rights to the land and forest produce that they have traditionally been subsisting o
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CAG faults Centre for aiding FIIs evade tax
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up Finance Ministry for flaws in double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) with other nations including Mauritius, which was exploited by FIIs and some Indian brokers in routing huge investments and caus
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CMIE pegs industrial growth at 7.5 per cent in 2005-06
Driven by a surge in manufacturing sector, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is estimated to grow at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
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Focus
Indian Corp Expansion
Opinions/Editorials
Govt to clarify opening global skies to airline
THE Ministry of Civil Aviation is to clarify its position on the issues raised by a Parliamentary Standing Commitee including its decision to open up international skies to a particular airline and granting it passage rights to some international routes
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No special provisions on labour flexibility for SEZs -- Govt introduces Bill in Lok Sabha
THE Government today introduced in the Lok Sabha the Special Economic Zones Bill, 2005, which provides for a stable and long-term fiscal policy framework with minimum regulatory intervention for such zones.
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Rescuing co-op credit
Cooperative sector bankers have rejected the Vaidyanathan task force’s recommendations for rehabilitation of the troubled cooperative credit infrastructure.
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SEZ Bill introduced in LS
The government on Monday introduced the long-awaited Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Bill providing a single window clearance and approval mechanisms for establishment of SEZs as well as production units inside the Zone.
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Sustaining India’s services revolution
The IT-driven revolution has not come about due to Gats, the General Agreement on Trade in Services. However, Gats can help in the movement of persons, where India has a comparative advantage, but faces barriers in developed countries’ markets.
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TN, AP, Karnataka plan joint venture for 3,000-MW project
WITH power shortages looming large over most of the country and barely any fresh generation capacity in sight, three States have decided to take matter into their own hands.
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Twelfth Finance Commission: The endless search for solutions
The Twelfth Finance Commission has tried to blend the objectives of fiscal prudence of the States, incentive for revenue deficit reduction on a State-specific basis, and debt sustainability. But the Commission has also sprung what some States may regard a
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Business The Government has proposed to make refiners share the subsidy burden on LPG,
kerosene, and petroleum products by canceling the payment of import parity
rates.
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Industrialisation boosts growth of mobile telephones
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The Center for Monitoring Indian Economy
predicts 7.5 industrial growth in 2005-2006 ONGC has bid for a Canadian
Oil Exploration Company estimated at USD 2.5 billion The Government introduced the Special
Economic Zone Bill to create a single window clearance and approval mechanism Maoist rebels attack Hindalco, India's
largest Aluminum and Copper producer, plant in Chattisgarh |